Suspect in Seffner hit-and-run turns self in

Thomas Woods was struck and killed by a truck early Saturday, deputies said. FAMILY PHOTO

TBO.com staff

Published: December 28, 2013

Updated: December 29, 2013 at 12:30 AM

Hillsborough County deputies say a driver suspected in a hit and run that killed a pedestrian early Saturday in Seffner has turned himself in.

At approximately 8:30 p.m., Mac C. Joiner, 42, 11806 Michigan St., Seffner, walked into the lobby of the Orient Road Jail and identified himself as the person who was driving the vehicle that struck Thomas Dean Woods.

According to detectives, Joiner was driving his 1995 Blue Dodge Dakota pickup truck northbound on Parsons Avenue, about a quarter mile south of Old East Hillsborough Avenue, when he saw Woods, 25, standing on the east side of the road but was unable to avoid hitting him.

The truck knocked Woods into a grassy area, and Joiner fled from the scene without rendering aid or notifying law enforcement, detectives said.

Joiner was aware of the media attention given to the case and decided to surrender, detectives said. He has been booked on a charge of leaving the scene of a traffic crash involving death and is being held on $15,000 bail.

Joiner should have his first appearance hearing this morning provided he doesn’t bail out prior to court beginning, deputies said.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at 12:18 a.m. from a driver who saw a man laying in the grass on the east side of South Parsons Avenue,.

Deputies responded and found the body of the 25-year-old Woods.

Woods had a permanent address listed in Navasota,Texas, but had been living at various addresses in southern and eastern Hillsborough County, deputies said.

Woods was taken to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy will be conducted to determine an official cause of death, and to help develop forensic clues to further the investigation, deputies said.

Detectives had released a photograph of automobile wreckage that was seized at the scene, hoping that someone might recognize it. The photograph was widely disseminated in the local media on Saturday.

Joiner told detectives where his vehicle was, and upon inspection the truck had damage consistent with the piece of wreckage, deputies said.

The colors on the wreckage also match colors of small fragments detectives found on Woods’ clothes, deputies said.